The invention relates to virtual jigsaw puzzle generation. Particularly, the invention relates to generation of sophisticated virtual jigsaw puzzles.
The jigsaw puzzle is an engaging form of home entertainment that has existed for generations. With the advent of computer age, many traditionally physical games such as various types of xe2x80x9cboardxe2x80x9d games have been simulated and brought into the virtual realm. In a limited sense, jigsaw puzzles are no exception.
Existing virtual jigsaw puzzle simulators, however, can produce only very basic puzzle styles. For example, all of the pieces of the puzzle might be virtually the same, with the exception of the portions of the pieces that are contiguous to an outer edge of the puzzle. Some simulators introduce some variation to the pieces by changing the size or curvature of one or more knobs of each piece. However, even with such variations introduced, the puzzles generated are still very similar to one another.
Puzzle shapes may also be manually drawn, in an attempt to create different and more complicated styles of virtual puzzles. However, this approach is very labor intensive and requires large amounts of computer memory to store and transmit information used to recreate the puzzle.